Barnes & Noble opens 'PubIt!' self-publishing portal, details compensation model

So you want to be a published author and Barnes & Noble wants to bring you into their fold. Launching soon, Barnes & Noble’s PubIt! self-publishing portal will soon be available. As you'd heard before, this platform is essentially designed to give independent writers a venue for hawking their masterpieces, with PubIt! converting files to ePUB for use on a wide range of e-readers (read: not only the Nook).

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Check Out this Windows 7 Media Center Guide

I came across the How-To Geek’s tutorial for Windows 7 Media Center users and I had to share it with you. In this How-To Guide you’ll find a collection of tips, tricks and tutorials for using WMC in Windows 7. The guide features everything from getting started with your TV Tuner setup to using add-ins like Boxee and so much more. The article is really long, but definitely worth checking out, even if you’re already a Media Center user. You may be surprised to find something you didn’t know!

For example, did you know you can set up event reminders, use parental controls, connect Windows Media Center to Windows Home Server, read RSS feeds in Media Center, or tweet from Media Center?  Those are just a few of the features covered in this detailed guide. You can read the rest of it here.

Configuring Devices in Windows 7

Here is a video link and links to other support information provided by Microsoft about many Windows 7 topics. This video describes installation and configuring devices in Windows 7. Topics that are discussed include:

Updating, disabling, and uninstalling drivers

Signed drivers

Configuring driver settings

Conflicts between drivers

Resolving problem device drivers

Configuring Devices in Windows 7

Do you want to charge for use of your power?

A new product is being introduced to control access to your premise power outlets and provide you with another source of revenue for your business. The SafePlug 1200-P3 is a pay-per-use system that provides this ability. This solution will provide paid access for those who find themselves with devices running low on power. The SafePlug 1200-P3 pay-per-use system can be into a regular power outlet. It will allow the potential client to gain access with a prepaid plastic card or key fob that are purchased from the front counter of the business or at kiosks, and will offer anywhere from 10 to 20 blocks of access time, where each one of which could be 20, 30, 45, or 60 minutes in duration. Once the device is unplugged, the P3 will turn itself off automatically. $1 will net you 20 minutes of charging time, with the outlet’s operating cost being estimated at 12 cents per kWh.

ASUS 27 Inch Monitor with Full HD-WebCam

Looking for more screen real-estate?  ASUS might have the product you are looking for. With full HD resolution support (1920 x 1024) the VK278Q has LED-backlit  illumination with dynamic contrast ratio (DCR) of 10,000,000:1, and features a 2.0 megapixel webcam, 2 ms response time and 3W stereo speakers.

While these features are functional, I would have thought that this size monitor would have much better resolution approaching 2560 x 1600 would have been nice. The webcam and speakers are a nice touch but I can’t say that I would recommend this product for those of you that need better resolution. However, if what you want are bigger images because your eyesight is going this could be the right product for you. Look for it at around $369.

New Product SKUs available from Buffalo in their Linkstation V-Series

We have been using the Buffalo NAS and USB products in many of our installations over the past several years. Buffalo has provided us with great support which allows us to pass that support on to you as well.

“Protecting and managing digital content has always been a time consuming task for home and small business users,” said Ralph Spagnola, vice president of sales at Buffalo Technology. “With the new LinkStation V-Series family, users access and share their data twice as fast that they would with a standard NAS device.”

Buffalo Technology has just announced its update to its popular LinkStation network storage family in the form of its high-performance V-Series line that includes the LinkStation Pro, LinkStation Pro Duo and LinkStation Pro Quad. The new V-Series family uses a 1.6GHz processor, offering users performance with network transfer speeds up to 76MB/s, touted as being twice as fast as competing network hard drives and faster than USB 2.0 storage solutions.

The dual drive solution offers RAID for redundancy and data protection, not to mention a user removable quick swap hard drive for simple drive servicing without the need for tools.

Dual drive gives you the opportunity to have redundancy built right into the machine. This gives you better data protection for your most important information, especially in a business environment.

If you are putting one of these into a home environment it is a DLNA CERTIFIED device, enabling simple streaming to any DLNA compatible media device, such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Combined with the recently announced free WebAccess i app for Apple iPod touch and iPhone and WebAccess i HD app for iPad, the new high performance LinkStation V-Series family revolutionizes how digital content is shared and consumed. These new apps provide iPhone and iPad users an easy and convenient way to access and stream digital content from a Buffalo NAS solution directly to their Apple mobile devices. With a simple setup and intuitive interface, Buffalo’s newly redesigned WebAccess feature allows users to easily stream digital content stored on any Buffalo network storage solution from anywhere in the world via a Web browser, iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

Prices range from $189.99 to $1,039.99, depending on the model, and storage capacity that you choose, and will come with a one-year warranty.

Where has the time gone...

So now I have made the mistake of adding a few more suggested Blog RSS Feeds to my greedier list and now I am getting about 2500 message a day that I have to sift through. The calendar says it is the thirteenth of the month I took a quick peak at my blog stats for the month and I have only posted one time to the web. It seems by the time I have sifted through everything I have no more energy left to write.

So I am going to try to do better because there a lot of things happening right now that I want to share with you and if I don't get busy they will get real stale and a whole less interesting. My goal has always been to work in about 25-30 new products or How to Demos each month, so that now that I have restated my goal let's see if I can get close to it.